Candidate investigated for using mobile phone in the voting booth in Brazil

O candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Brazil Romeo Zema, of the New Party, will be investigated by the Regional Electoral Court of Minas Gerais (TRE-MG), following having used the phone in the voting booth, this Sunday.

The president, who voted in the State School Delfim Moreira, in the Center of Araxá, in Alto Paranaíba, pointed out that he did nothing with the apparatus.

“ I've been on my phone all day, haven't I? It's almost like a finger. No one reminded me and I went to vote normally, but that didn't affect my vote at all, my way of voting. I didn't shoot anything. I didn't do anything with my phone. I was just voting anyway. [...] If I'd been alerted, I'd have delivered right away. I think we have much more important things, like this one from Paraná, that we are seeing, to be following and questioning. For my part, it was even filmed, you can see that I did nothing with the phone ", said, quoted by g1.

Still, and according to the same means, the Electoral Prosecutor of Minas Gerais is considering the submission of a complaint against the candidate. Alongside this, the president of the Regional Electoral Court of Minas Gerais (TRE-MG), Carlos Henrique Perpétuo Braga, confirmed that the body will investigate Romeo Zema.

“ All members of the table were instructed about the ban on mobile phone use and other equipment that violate the secrecy of voting in the voting booth. Thus, facts of this nature which are recorded shall be determined. The violation of the secrecy of the vote is electoral crime, established in article 312 of the Electoral Code, subject to sentence of up to two years of detention ", said, in a statement.

More than 158 million Brazilians have been called to the polls today for the country's general elections, in which we also seek to elect the next president, in a highly polarized ballot between Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro.

The elections, whose vote is mandatory in Brazil for literate citizens between the ages of 18 and 70, intend to elect governors, senators and federal, state and district deputies, as well as the next head of state.

The current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seeks re-election at the age of 80 and his fourth term, while Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, tries to return power to the Bolsonarian field, four years after the father's defeat against the same opponent, despite the polls pointing to a technical draw.

If no candidate obtains today the required more than 50% of the valid votes, a second round is scheduled for October 25, according to the schedule of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

More than 134,000 Brazilians are registered in Portugal, but they will only help to elect the president and vice president of the Republic, and the voting tables closed at 5 p.m.

In Lisbon, due to the high number of voters, the vote took place in three locations – Rectory of the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. In Porto, the tables worked at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP). In Faro, they voted at the consulate headquarters.

In the Portuguese capital were registered about 79,000 voters, in Porto more than 47,000 and in Faro almost 9,000.

Portugal is the second largest electoral college abroad, behind the United States of America.